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Summary England manages to take the wickets of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis.
Englands public humiliation, as Graeme Swann termed it after their innings defeat at The Oval, stretched to more than ten hours at the start of the second Test before they finally achieved what they must have wondered if they would ever be allowed to see again: a South African wicket.By tea on the first day at Headingley, taken slightly early as rain began to fall, they had the luxury of three of them, their tormenters in south London, Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis, all accounted for.It had taken the advent of thickening cloud cover to hearten Englands quartet of fast bowlers on a day when the overriding sense before then had been that of a South African side grinding on remorselessly.How Headingley plays with the heart. England had endured a demoralising morning, the weather bright and breezy, the green tinge of a sedate pitch seemingly an illusion. Then their mood lightened as the skies darkened. England took three wickets in 12 overs, gifts from heaven as the threat of rain rushed up from the south west.By tea, Alviro Petersen was holding South Africa together. He was unbeaten on 76, milking the leg side with certainty as England bowled straight, hunting the lbw to which gossip on the county circuit insists he is vulnerable.It was the 38th over before England broke through. Smith had been his usual obdurate self, shovelling balls to the leg side resourcefully. He is a big man, so pugnacious that one might imagine beneath his loose-fitting shirts are an army of miniature men, permanently fighting. There was nothing threatening in the full, leg-stump delivery from Bresnan, but he turned it to Ian Bell behind square and England accepted their release gratefully.Amla, the triple-century maker at The Oval, almost fell for a single. Stuart Broad forcing an inside edge, but the ball dying in front of the wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, as it was also slowed by a flick of the pad. But Amla ran himself out for nine in a mix-up with Petersen, lured reluctantly into a third run after an England misfield which left Broad in a strop, but short by a couple of metres as Bresnan heaved in a powerful throw from the boundary.Kallis looked in mint form, but fell for 19 as he cut at Anderson and Alastair Cook held a fast, low catch by his bootlaces.Englands unrewarding morning centred upon the gangling figure of Steven Finn, who had been recalled as England omitted Swann in favour of a quartet of fast bowlers. Finn had Smith caught at first slip by Andrew Strauss when he was only 6, but Englands relief was short-lived as the Australian umpire, Steve Davis, called dead ball because Finns buckled right knee knocked off the bails.Strauss, Englands captain, jogged down from slip to protest but it was a pointless gesture. Davis was within his rights under Law 23.4 (vi) which states that either umpire can call dead ball if: The striker is distracted by any noise or movement or in any other way while he is preparing to receive, or receiving a delivery.Finn had collided with the stumps three times in his first couple of overs without Davis intervening but once he did call dead ball he did so for the rest of the morning. There was a suspicion that South Africa must have made quiet representations, and why ever not? His colliding with the stumps occurs so regularly that it is an irritation and, if South Africa had observed as much before the match, they had shown basic professionalism.Australias captain, Michael Clarke, who was bowled in the NatWest Series at Chester-le-Street when Finn also collided with the stumps, will now realise that he missed a trick; England will realise they have a problem.Finn has reportedly been working on the issue with Middlesexs bowling coach, Richard Johnson, but clearly to no avail. One of the most promising fast bowlers in the world, he is nevertheless not short of frailties. When he first came into the England side, he kept falling over in his delivery stride. Now he stays on his feet, but keeps hitting the stumps.Petersen had his escape on 29 when he was dropped by Cook, a routine chance to second slip which slipped through his hands and struck him on the knee. He was there because of the absence of Swann, but even allowing for his excellent catch later to dismiss Kallis, Jonathan Trott would have been a better option.No matter how much statistical analysis they were able to produce, the exclusion of Swann and a reliance on an all-pace attack represented a considerable gamble. Headingley lurches between swing bowlers paradise to one of the flattest pitches in the land and to omit Swann on the grounds of a green-tinged pitch and an unsettled forecast for the second half of the match had a hint of desperation.Swann, instrumental in Englands rise through the Test rankings, was omitted after 43 successive Tests and settled down for a disconsolate read of the Test match programme in the home dressing room. He found himself on the front cover under the headline Turning The Tide. It was unlikely to enhance his mood.England put South Africa into bat, as their selection insisted that they must, but they were not exactly imbued with attacking spirit. Strauss is a conservative captain, and his approach is perhaps favoured by his coach Andy Flower, and Smith found himself met with two slips and a gully and four fielders on the leg side, three saving a single.Smith had worked straight balls repeatedly through the leg side during his mammoth stand with Amla at The Oval, but he had also recently returned from a long haul flight to be at the birth of his first child and had not batted since. England could at least have seen whether he got the sleep out of his eyes.As it was, Petersen took most of the new ball, helped on his way as Broads line strayed. Broad was again well below pace, out of sorts at best, carrying a niggle at worst. By the time Bresnan tested Petersen with two short balls, both of them pulled to the mid wicket boundary, he had a half-century from 78 balls only to slow after lunch as conditions became more taxing.
